Inbox: Wi-Fi Controversy

wweek.com Readers Comment On...

“It would be educational malpractice for a modern middle school NOT to have Wi-Fi.

Mr. Morrison
should send his daughter somewhere that doesn’t have the Internet. Then
when she graduates perhaps she can find work as a blacksmith.” —JJ Gildersneeze

“…The jury is still out on the effects of this type of radiation on humans, especially children, who have thinner skulls. Other first-world countries have chosen to play it safe, as far as exposure to children is concerned.

In 1950, the FTC ruled ‘that the smoking of cigarettes.... in moderation by individuals… who are accustomed to smoking and who are in normal good health… is not appreciably harmful.’ In this regard, the lawsuit seems mostly to be asking PPS to sit up and at least pay attention. Something this writer chose not to do.” —Gino

“Biological insults commenters mention— tobacco, DDT,
plastizers, lead, etc.—participate in the chemical reactions of the
body. Ionizing radiation sources: ultraviolet light, radioactive decay
particles and X-rays, knock electrons off of molecules in the body,
leading to unwanted chemical reactions. If you remember from school,
chemical reactions are reactions between the electron shells of atoms.

The reason
scientists are skeptical of claims radio waves are harmful is that there
is no known mechanism. The wavelengths don’t correspond to anything in
the body, nor do the frequencies. They don’t have enough energy to
ionize, and they don’t participate in chemical reactions. The body
is salt water, so the skin blocks radio waves from penetrating,
especially at high frequencies, like Wi-Fi. The only known mechanism is
heating. Unless you are in the military repairing active radar, you are
not going to get detectable body heat from radio waves, including Wi-Fi.

But there is solid
evidence that self-induced stress, over issues like this for instance,
weakens your immune system. That immune system is responsible for
removing cell faults caused by purely random mutations—those that occur
in the absence of any actual hazards, every day, even in children (who
hopefully are learning science).” —Robert

“…I used to work for a toxic activist group in CA that was
instrumental in stopping 2,4-D and 2,45-T cocktail (Agent Orange) from
being sprayed by [the] U.S. Forest Service…. In the 1970s, a local U.S.
Forest Service bigwig publicly asserted that 2,4,5-T was as harmless as
“table salt.”… Obviously, this is an extreme example of the U.S.
government claiming something is safe when it ended up killing 100s of
thousands... but as parents, I think we have a right to be skeptical. This was not that long ago.

…Now let’s talk about what’s in the school lunches, all enclosed and cooked in plastic!” —Erika

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